PRINCESS ANNE, MD - (April 26, 2013) - Lisa P. Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator during President Obama’s first term, will deliver the 126th spring commencement address to some 400 graduates and their guests May 17, at 10 a.m. in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center.

Jackson led an agency that employs a staff of 17,000 committed to protecting the nation “from health treats from toxins to pollution” and renewing the public’s trust in the agency’s work.

When she announced her resignation in December, news organizations credited Jackson for pushing through “the most sweeping curbs on air pollution in three decades.” She also worked to limit the amount of waste from mines dumped into waterwaays and spoke out about protecting the poor from exposure to a disproportionate amount of pollution.

In accepting her resignation, the president praised Jackson for her accomplishments during her four years of service.

“Under her leadership, the EPA has taken sensible and important steps to protect the air we breathe and the water we drink, including implementing the first national standard for harmful mercury pollution, taking important action to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act, and playing a key role in establishing historic fuel economy standards that will save the average American family thousands of dollars at the pump while also slashing carbon pollution.”

Jackson, the first African-American to serve as EPA administrator, was named one of Essence Magazine’s “40 Women Who Have Influenced the World.”She was also recognized as Newsweek’s “Most Important People in 2010,” and Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” for its 2010 and 2011 list.

Jackson earned a bachelor’s from Tulane University in New Orleans and a master’s in chemical engineering from Princeton University in New Jersey.